


Heaven is a Place Like This, an Assembly of Broken Things

by Major_Fortune



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Caleb Widogast Deserves Nice Things, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Jester Lavorre does to, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining, Requited Unrequited Love, Widojest - Freeform, they're in love yall, this is REALLY soft yall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:41:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27550027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Major_Fortune/pseuds/Major_Fortune
Summary: Jester doesn't always like being the Cleric but, deep down, it's who she is, she's a healer. She desperately wants to heal her friends, take away their pain, even if she doesn't always know how.Sometimes a spell isn't enough.Sometimes it takes more than a smile.She doesn't know if there are enough smiles or magic in the world to take away Caleb's suffering, but she's willing to try.
Relationships: Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 8
Kudos: 119





	Heaven is a Place Like This, an Assembly of Broken Things

Another mission, another night on the road. After a long day of travel, they had decided to stop for the night and get some rest. Caleb formed the hut and they worked out their watch rotation. Caduceus and Yasha had been first, now it was Caleb and Jester.

The nights in the Xhorhasian badlands were cold and windy but the sky, untouched by the drow darkness spell, was beautifully star speckled, which totally made up for it as far as Jester was concerned. She and Caleb lit a fire and sat in a comfortable silence, he read, she sketched. Jester let herself relax and enjoy the moment of familiar calm. If she closed her eyes, she could almost be home, in Nicodranas. Except the crashing of waves against the shore was just Caleb turning the pages of his book and instead of her Mama’s melodious humming in the night, she had an entire symphony of snores. But it felt like home. They felt like a family.

She finished drawing the creature they had fought the previous day and stretched her arms and legs, a small yawn escaping her lips, just as Caleb reached over towards the camp fire, trying to warm his hands by the flames. His wrists peaked out from beneath his coat, thin and pale and awfully scarred.

For a second that was all that Jester could see, that little sliver of skin was her entire world. It wasn’t something Jester was unused to, it had become sort of a bad habit ever since he had decided to show them his scars. Every time she caught a glimpse of them she would get lost in his pain, absorbed by terrible images of a scared young boy getting tortured, experimented on. It made her sick, it made her want to cry. It made her want to hurt someone.

Caleb saw her staring and quickly pulled his sleeves down, his previously relaxed face turned into an emotionless mask, but his eyes were downcast and troubled. Jester bit her lip, she felt like kicking herself. The last thing she wanted was to call more attention to his scars, he was clearly very aware of them already. She hated seeing him in pain but, more than that, she hated being responsible for that pain.

She knew it had been a big step for him to take off his bandages, but now the scars were always right there, raised pink reminders of his past, peaking out every time he read or used magic or rode his moorbounder. She wished she could erase them, that she could erase every single line on his body that reminded him of pain, wash them all away like they were nothing more than dirt on his skin.

They all had their scars, Fjord wore his right on his face, Beau’s arms and legs were a roadmap of them. But those were reminders of adventures and mischief or lessons learned. There was no lesson to be taken from Caleb’s, no redeeming tale that made them worth it. Jester had never hated anything more than them or anyone more than the man who had created them.

“Hey Cay-leb...” She whispered, just loud enough to get his attention but not to wake their friends. “Did you get hurt in the fight? Do you need any healing?”

His head poked out from behind his book. “ _Nein_... I’m good.” He said, but she saw his arm wrap around his body protectively.

“Are you sure? It’s no trouble. I’m going to sleep soon so I’ll get all my spells back in the morning anyway...” Now that she looked more closely, she could tell he was leaning heavily to his right, almost curling up on his side.

“Alright, if you don’t mind... My ribs are a little sore. But it’s nothing serious. I’m sure they’ll be fine tomorrow.”

“Oh, shut up and let me look at it.” She said, getting up from her bedroll and walking over to his. She didn’t sit down as much as just let her body fall next to his with feigned carelessness. In reality she was hyper aware of his body next to hers and was extra careful not to hit his ribs as she sat.

Despite what Beau might say, Jester really was a good liar. But she didn’t lie with her words, it was her carefree smile, her childish actions, her relaxed movements that lied, hiding her inner thoughts when things were not okay. And, that night, things were definitely not okay. If she really thought about it, she knew they hadn’t been okay for a while.

“Jacket off. You know the drill, Widogast.” She said with a great big smile, because that’s what was expected of her.

He did as he was told, wincing slightly as he shrugged the jacket off his shoulders and then folded it carefully over his arm before turning back towards her.

“Alright, I’m going to lift up your shirt now, okay?” He nodded his face going red, his eyes stuck to the ground. “It’s this side, right?”

She grabbed the hem of his shirt and hesitated, her fangs digging into her bottom lip again. She had healed him plenty of times before but he usually went to Caduceus for bigger injuries, since she was quick to use her spells for attacks, instead of saving them for healing. So, aside from a couple of sideways glances from afar that one time they had gone to the beach, Jester had never seen Caleb shirtless and this wasn’t exactly how she imagined it would be.

Still, she lifted the fabric slowly, her hands unsteady. Caleb’s body was not like those of the men in her romance novels, not full of rippling muscles or even lean and cut like Fjord’s. His stomach was flat and pale and lightly freckled but, as Jester let her hand linger against his warm skin to hold the shirt up, she could feel some definition beneath.

The right side of his ribcage was a mess of bruises, deep purple and yellow and green, in various states of healing, blossoming around what had to be a broken or, at the very least, cracked rib.

“This isn’t from today, is it Cayleb?” She looked him sternly in the eye, her smile disappearing.

He kept his eyes low, his blush running down his neck. “ _N-nein_...” He cleared his throat. “It’s from when I got thrown off my moorbounder.”

Jester’s eyes went as wide as saucers. “Cayleb, what the fuck?! That was 3 days ago! And you didn’t tell us anything?”

“There were...more important things at hand. And, like I said, it’s not serious.”

“You don’t get to decided that, you’re not the cleric!” She said, a bit too loud. He chuckled but it made him wince again. Lowering her tone, Jester ran her fingers lightly over his bruised skin, evaluating the shape of the bone beneath, looking for a fracture or dislocation but also just enjoying the heat and smoothness of his skin. He shivered under her touch, his eyes closed in what could either be pleasure or pain. “I am. And this is looking pretty serious to me... I’m sorry, I know it’s really cold, but you’re going to have to take your shirt off.”

“Are you trying to get me naked, Lavorre?” He smiled a little, his eyes still closed. Jester felt her face go warm.

“Yeah, because broken ribs really turn me on...” She teased and he laughed, even though it made him bend over in pain.

Technically, she could heal his rib without having to remove his shirt, technically. But she had felt his bone jut out under his skin and she knew enough about medicine (mostly from watching Caduceus) to understand that she needed to re-set it before using magic, or else his ribs would never heal correctly. And that would be so much easier to do without the fabric getting in the way... It was just logic. There were absolutely no unclearic-like reasons for her request, none at all...

Caleb started taking off his shirt but when he lifted his right arm, Jester heard him let out a hiss of pain.

“Do you need help?”

“ _Nein, nein_... I can do it, I just need to-” He mumbled awkwardly, still trying to lift the fabric.

“Don’t be silly, Cayleb.” She shooed his hands away and started to pull the shirt up, not noticing she had been holding her breath until it was done. She was hyper aware of his breathing though. How shallow it was because of his injury, how it hitched when she reached for his shirt, how it sped up when she got it off and he finally looked her in the eye. “It’s okay to ask for help when you need it. Or for healing, for that matter...”

“ _Ja_... I’m still getting used to that...” He scratched his arms subconsciously, avoiding her eyes once more. It took everything in Jester to stop herself from looking down at his scars again. “We didn’t used to get healed... you know, after...”

“When you were at evil wizard school?” She joked, trying to relieve some of the tension in his voice, on his face.

He gave her a small smile which, in Caleb terms, was a pretty big one. “ _Ja_. Ik-” He stuttered, trying to say his name before deciding he was better off not saying it at all. “My teacher said that healing was for the weak. That suffering trough it would make us stronger...”

“That’s horrible!” She put her hands on his shoulders, forcing him to look at her. Her eyes filled with tears but she blinked them away furiously. “Cayleb... I’m so, so sorry that happened to you. But you need to know that it’s over now, you got away, you’re safe with us. You don’t have to suffer in silence anymore. We’re here to help you. I’m here to help you!”

He reached out and gently stroked her cheek, his palm incredibly warm against her cool skin. “I know, Blueberry. You’re far too good to me.”

He started to pull away but she put her hand over his, keeping it against her cheek. “You deserve good, Cayleb.” She saw his gaze linger on her lips and, for a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her. And she wanted him to, she desperately wanted him to.

She didn’t know when she had realized she was in love with Caleb Widogast, but now it was as obvious and undeniable as her skin being blue. Maybe it had been that one time they danced the waltz and it was sweet and perfect... until he called her Astrid and her mouth had filled with bitter, jealous bile. Maybe it was when they were on the ship and he had given her advice about Fjord and the words had gone dry in her mouth because it felt wrong to say she liked Fjord when she was looking at him. It had never felt like a lie before she stared into his eyes. Maybe it was when he told them all about his past and he’d looked at her like a broken man awaiting judgement, like he expected her to to reject him, to despise him, when in fact all she wanted was to comfort him, to hold him until his tears dried and the memories didn’t hurt as much.

But she hadn’t touched him because, even though her feelings were obvious, his never were. She never knew where she stood with Caleb. Not even in that moment, as his head leaned gently down towards her and her lips parted in waiting, she would be unsure until she felt his touch. Maybe even after. 

But then Beau let out a loud snore and the moment was gone. Caleb quickly looked away, his gaze wondering frantically around, trying to avoid her own. Jester was suddenly very aware of how close they were and how _very shirtless_ Caleb was. She pulled away, letting go of his hand. “But I’m going to have to do something not very good now... I need to put your rib back in its place.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes finally settling on the fire ahead. “That’s alright. I’m sure I’ve felt worse.” His face was flushed a deep pink now, but so was his neck and chest. Jester tried her hardest not to stare at the scattered freckles on his shoulders that looked like constellations, or follow the thin line of auburn hair that ran down his stomach and disappeared down the front of his pants. But of course she ended up failing miserably.

Her cheeks burning, she started to ramble like she always did when she got nervous. “I’m sorry, I’m pretty sure it’s _reeeeeally_ gonna hurt. I mean, I technically never had a broken rib, technically. But I heard it sucks. I would hold your hand but I need them both, so do you want to like... hold my tail?” 

She swished her tail in front of his eyes, making him go cross-eyed for a second, as he tried to follow it. She couldn’t help but giggle, he looked ridiculously adorable. Slowly, he reached out and touched her, the blackened tips of his finger just brushing against the sensitive skin of her tail. Jester bit her lip, holding back a gasp. His touch felt like fire across her skin.

She didn’t know why she had offered her tail, but she regretted it almost immediately. It had seemed like a reasonable idea coming out of her mouth but now that she thought about it, it really wasn’t. Tiefling tails weren’t like hands at all. Having your tail touched didn’t feel like holding hands and it sure as hell didn’t mean the same in Tiefling culture. Did he know the effect his touch was having on her? Could he tell her body had heated up and her breathing had grown fainter?

“I don’t want to accidentally hurt you. Molly told me once that Tiefling tails are... very sensitive.” He closed his hand around the length of her tail, his fingers still incredibly gentle, making her shiver. Though his words seemed so full of sexual tension, there was nothing in his tone but his usual detached scientific curiosity.

“Yeah, you’re right. Bad idea, never mind.” She quickly swished her tail away. “Hold this instead. Better yet, bite on it.” She handed him his scarf, almost shoving it in his mouth. He did as he was told, obediently biting down on the thick wool, his lips just grazing the tips of her fingers as she pulled away.

Before she could dwell on the feeling, Jester placed one hand over his ribcage and the other on his back to steady her movements and pushed. She felt the rib move, grazing its broken edge over its other half until it popped back in place. Caleb screamed, the sound muffled by the wool.

Nott woke up with a start, her head turning towards them, eyes blinking heavily. Jester was sure it was a strange sight, her holding on to Caleb’s bare chest, but Nott just smiled sleepily, reassured by the lack of danger going on around them, and went back to sleep.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Jester mumbled like a frenzied prayer, as she worked. She passed her finger over his skin one more time to make sure the rib was perfectly aligned and stated focusing on her magic so she could finish healing him.

The warmth of the Traveler’s power flowed trough her holy symbol and into her hands, spreading over his skin until it too glowed and the bruises on it faded away until all that was left was his usual freckle speckled milky perfection. Caleb’s scream subsided into a low moan, his breath coming in and out frantically.

“It’s over, it’s done! You’re okay, you’re okay...” She cooed soothingly, as much to herself as to him.

After a tense moment, Caleb removed the scarf from his mouth and closed his eyes, breathing slowly and deeply to steady himself, his chin pressed against his chest.

Jester felt a pit of misery open up in her own chest. Once again, she had caused him pain, first emotional, now physical, when all she wanted was to heal him, to make him feel better. She really was the worst cleric in the world...

She forced herself to smile, because that was what she did when it hurt. She smiled through her pain and the pain of those she loved and, if she did it well enough, eventually the smile would become real. It was a small, awkward smile, one of those that hurt her cheeks and did not meet her eyes, but it didn’t matter because Caleb wasn’t looking anyway. 

“Are you alright? Did the pain go away?” She asked gently, reaching forward to push a stray lock of hair away from his face. As her fingers grazed his skin, Caleb flinched and Jester tried to pull away, but then he leaned into her touch, his eyes opening slowly, growing pools of crystalline water. She traced the line of his high cheekbone and placed his silky hair behind his ear.

“ _J-Ja_...Thank you, Jester.” He muttered, his voice hoarse from screaming. But his gaze was gentle, not darkened with remnants of pain, but full of genuine appreciation. Jester’s smile grew less painful, less fake. “You always seem to know what I need. Even when I’m too dumb to ask.”

“You’re not dumb, Cayleb. You’re the smartest person I know...” She saw him start to blush again, his pale, pain stricken complexion turning to an appealing shade of pink. Jester cast her eyes down shyly and, once again, ended up looking at his bare arms. She didn’t look away this time, though. Instead, she forced herself to give voice to the question that had been plaguing her mind for months now.

“Cay-leb... Will you let me try to heal something else?”

“Something... on me? I’m all good now, truly.” He said, eyebrow cocked in confusion.

“I was thinking about... your scars...” She didn’t look at his face but she knew he flinched at the word, his posture going stiff. “I want to try and heal them. For you.”

Caleb was silent for what felt like an eternity and Jester felt like curling up into a tiny ball on the ground and disappearing.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered, blinking hard to stop her eyes from watering. “You don’t have to say anything. I shouldn’t have asked...”

She started to get up when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down.

“They are very old, I don’t know if healing magic will work on them. But, if you want, you can try.”

“Has anyone ever tried before?” She asked, not daring to look him in the eye. She wouldn’t be able to hold back her tears if she did.

He shook his head, his hand still holding her wrist, his blackened thumb rubbing slow circles over her pulse point. “ _Nein._ No one has ever cared enough to do it.” 

She took a deep breath, calming herself until her eyes dried up. Only then did she look up and grab his arm gently.

Once again, she gripped her symbol of Traveler and summoned the bright light of her God’s healing. The power travelled trough her and into his skin, illuminating his wrist from within. Against the bright light, the scars seemed even more atrocious, dark, sharp shadows marring the perfection of his glowing skin. She focused on just one of them, trying to make it fade, imagining the spot where it stood without a single mark, just soft, freckled skin.

Time passed and nothing happened. For a second, she thought she saw it shrink but when she blinked it was back to its normal size. Growing desperate, she closed her eyes tightly and begged her God for help. _Please, please, please!_ She screamed inside her head, her canines biting into her lower lip so hard her mouth started to taste like copper. _Please Traveler, he needs this! I need this!_

She prayed and prayed but the scars didn’t change. Eventually, the light faded. That’s when she finally broke down. Unable to contain it any longer, she started to cry, her body shaking with big, breathless sobs.

“Hey, that’s okay Jester!” He cooed, cupping her cheek, trying to wipe away her tears with his thumb. “I know you tried your hardest, but scars this old just can’t be healed. Don’t cry, Blueberry! _”_

“I’m the worst cleric ever!” She sobbed. “You should just leave me behind, all I do is mess up! I can’t even heal properly!”

To her surprise, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her, pulling her tightly against his bare chest. 

“Shhh, that’s not true, _Schatz_. None of that is true.”

She laid her head on his shoulder, the warmth of his body against her felt wonderfully soothing and it wasn’t long before she started to calm down.

“I just wanted to do this for you...” She whispered against his skin, breathing in his sent of incense and paper and smoke.

“Why? I never... I never asked you to.”

“You didn’t have to. I know they remind you of all the awful things he did to you and I don’t want you to have to relive that anymore.”

He pulled back a bit so he could look her in the eye. “Jester... _Ja_ , they are reminders, but not of that. They’re pale and raised, not red and bleeding. Not anymore. They remind me that I made it out alive and that it’s over now.”

Tears threatened to fill her eyes again. “But you get so sad when you see me looking at them...”

He hung his head, his auburn hair covering his eyes. “They may not bother me anymore but I know what people think when they see them. I don’t want you to think of me as broken, Jester... or evil...”

Jester shook her head so hard her hair flew around her like a flock of departing birds. “No, I could never think that! It’s true, your scars remind me that you’ve been through a lot but that doesn’t make you broken, Cayleb. Not to me. It makes you strong. You’re one of the strongest and kindest people I’ve ever met.”

He looked up and when their eyes met Jester was overwhelmed by the amount of sadness contained in his baby blues. “You wouldn’t say that if you knew all that I’ve done. I’m a horrible, wicked man, Jester.”

“No, you’re a survivor.” She cupped his face like he had done for her before. “It’s true, I don’t know what you’ve done. But I know one day you’ll tell me and it won’t matter. The way I feel about you won’t change.” His eyes widened and Jester hoped for one fleeting second that he understood what she meant, what she really felt. “You were a child, you didn’t decide to do bad things, you were forced to do them by people who were supposed to protect you and instead tried to corrupt you. But they couldn’t, they failed. Because you’re not evil, Cayleb. You never were.”

Caleb went very still, then he closed his eyes as a single tear slid down his cheek. Jester let go of his face, afraid that she had hurt him once again. She started to mumble an apology, a joke, anything to stop his tears. Before she could get a sentence out, however, he slid his arms around her waist and kissed her. 

Jester had dreamt about kissing Caleb plenty of times before, but none of her dreams even came close to the real thing. Caleb kissed like he did everything else, carefully and methodically at first, and then with surprising, burning intensity.

He started by just gently brushing his lips against hers, his touch feather light and shy, like he was asking for permission. When Jester immediately melted into him, lacing her fingers into his hair to pull him closer, his kiss became deeper, more intense. His movements grew frantic, like he couldn’t get enough of her and the frustration only made him want it more. Jester parted her lips, letting his tongue explore her own, his touch so warm she could swear they were catching fire wherever their bodies met. She didn’t care, everything around them could burn as long as he didn’t stop.

Except he did, pulling back quickly, his face flustered. Jester let out a little whine of discontent, her arms automatically wrapping around her torso, where his had been. She rarely ever felt cold but, after having his heat all around her, she was freezing.

“I’m sorry...” He said, head low again so he didn’t have to look her in the eye.

“For stopping?” She asked.

He laughed, despite himself. Jester saw him bite his lip - the lip she had just ran her tongue over less then a minute ago, the lip she was dying to kiss again - to try to hold back the sharp exhale. “ _Nein_ , I shouldn’t have done that...”

“Why? Was I bad? You know I don’t have much experience when it comes to kissing...” She twirled a strand of blue hair between her fingers, her cheeks now turning a soft violet.

“ _Nein, nein..._ You’re wonderful, Jester. You always are.” Her eyes immediately returned to his lips. She wanted him so badly it hurt. “But I shouldn’t have put you in that situation. I didn’t want you to feel like you had to kiss me back out of pity...”

“Pity? Cayleb, I didn’t kiss you back because you’re sad! I kissed you because I wanted to! I’ve wanted to for a long time now...”

“You don’t have to say that...” He breathed in deeply, still avoiding her eyes. “I know it’s impossible for me to keep hiding my feelings for you after this, but I assure you I’ll try my hardest to pretend it didn’t happen.”

Jester’s heart started racing in her chest, her stomach doing somersaults, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Did you just say you like me, Cayleb?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“ _Like me_ like me?” She asked, smiling despite the nervous butterflies taking flight inside her, threatening to pull her off the ground.

“ _Ja_.” He finally looked her in the eye. “I’m in love with you, Blueberry. Uselessly in love...”

Jester didn’t think, she laced her arms around his neck and kissed him again, just a quick peck that caught him off-guard.

“Is it useless if it’s reciprocated?” She whispered against his lips. “Because I love you too, Cayleb.”

“You can’t...You... I’m not...” He mumbled, his face so hot she could feel the heat radiating off of him.

“But I do. I have for a long time. I wish I had told you sooner... I guess I’m pretty useless when it comes to love too...”

“I can’t think of a single person less useless than you, Jester Lavorre. You do so much for me, for all of us...” He sighed. “That’s why I don’t deser-”

“Don’t.” Jester interrupted him. “Whatever bad, self-deprecating thing you’re about to say, don’t say it. Just kiss me again.”

He did, immediately.

Jester knew Caleb was a quick learner but it wasn’t until that second kiss that she was sure he was a true prodigy. The firs kiss had been wonderful, with all the electrifying adrenaline of something new and the sweet little awkward moments, when they were still slowly getting to know each other’s bodies and things didn’t immediately fit.

But the second kiss... the second kiss was perfect. He had taken in all her little quirks, what made her giggle and shiver and sigh, and he used it all, giving her just enough to make her want to beg for more when he eventually pulled away.

 _“Du bist perfekt. Ich verdiene dich nicht, Liebling..._ ” He whispered in thick Zemnian, his forehead pressed against hers. Jester didn’t understand what it meant but the warmth in his eyes told her enough. “Never doubt yourself or your healing abilities. You always know what to do or say to make us all feel better. It doesn’t have to be with magic Jester, you heal us all with your laughter and your love. Even when we don’t realize we need it, you’re always here for us. You’re the best cleric I’ve ever met.”

Jester smiled, her eyes a little watery. “You’re just saying that because Caduceus doesn’t go around kissing the people he heals.”

He smirked. “Oh, so you give this kind of treatment to everyone else?”

“No. But, in my specialized cleric opinion, it was necessary this time. You’re suffering from a very serious condition.” She said with fake seriousness. Without noticing, she had started tracing lines between the freckles on his shoulders, connecting them into little hearts and cute animals.

“ _Mein Gott_ , what is this illness? Is it life threatening?” He asked, trying not to smile.

“It can be, if left untreated. You’re suffering from a case of not realizing how amazing and deserving of love you are.”

He couldn’t hold back his smile then and it was so warm and honest it made Jester’s heart ache. “Is there a cure for that?”

She tapped her chin, pretending to think about it. “At least one kiss a day. More if possible, as many as you feel you need. And one daily ‘I love you ’from your local tiefling cleric as well. You don’t have to say it back but you can’t deny my words either.”

“I’ve been stopping myself from saying it for months. Do you honestly think I would not say it back?”

Jester smirked. “Then say it one more time, just for good measure.”

“I. Love. You. Jester. Lavorre.” He punctuated each word with a kiss, each of them getting longer and deeper because Jester never wanted to let him go. By the end of the sentence they were making out in earnest, Jester’s hands exploring Caleb’s bare chest, his tangled in her hair. Gods, she wished she had said something sooner! How many kisses had she missed out on? How many more would she have missed if he hadn’t kissed her tonight? How long would they have waited, two useless idiots in love, blind to each other’s feelings, looking for courage to make a move?

“How long do you think this treatment will last?” He asked when they finally broke apart.

“As long as it takes for you to start believing you are worthy of it.”

He sighed. “That may take a long time...”

“That’s okay. I’m a _very_ patient healer.” She shot him a cheeky wink and Caleb seemed to go even redder. She didn’t think that was possible at this point. “Besides, the good thing about this treatment is that it never runs out.”

“Not even if it takes years?”

“Not even if it takes the rest of our lives _._ ”

Caleb gave her one of those looks that always took her breath away. One of those rare gazes where he put his nerves aside and stared at her without fear, with his eyes glowing like blue flames, full of so much warmth and care that he seemed to see right through her, to the dark parts of her heart she tried to hide with her smiles, and accepted it all. That look spoke louder than any of his words, she just couldn’t understand what it meant before. When he stared at her while they danced, when the corners of his eyes crinkled as he tried to hold back laughter after she made a joke, when he took her hand as they walked and said “I’ll tell you later”, she didn’t understand it. Now she knew that look meant “I love you”.

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this a loooong long time ago, around the time they first went to Xhorhas and Caleb's scars were still a new thing. Always wanted to explore the limitations of healing spells and Jester's complicated relationship with her role as a cleric. Sometimes it takes a broken man to explain to you how there's more than one way to put the pieces back together.  
> The title is from Heaven is a Place by Amber Run  
> Comments and Kuddos are always appreciated!


End file.
